METHODS FOR CURING OLIVES | preserving olives in brine | how to preserve olives in salt water

METHODS FOR CURING OLIVES Olives picked off the tree contain a very bitter compound called oleuropein. Harvested olives must be “cured” to remove the bitterness in order to make them palatable. The most common curing processes use brine, dry salt, water, or lye treatments. During these curing processes the water-soluble oleuropein compound is leached out of the olive flesh. The flavor and texture of each style of olive depends partly on the curing process used. Lye-curing is the most rapid and efficient process for de-bittering, but many people think that lye-cured olives are less flavorful than other styles of olives. Brined olives undergo a natural fermentation not unlike that used for traditional dill pickles and sauerkraut. Acids produced in the fermentation process by lactic acid bacteria that are naturally present on the fruit give these olives a distinctive flavor and aroma. Brined olives tend to be saltier than lye-cured olives. Water curing does not change the flavor of the olives as much as other curing methods. This publication includes directions for making water-cured, brine-cured, dry salt cured, and lye-cured olives. The storage life of the olives that you prepare at home varies depending on the olive style, and is indicated in the instructions. For a longer storage life you can preserve some olives using additional methods (e.g., freezing, drying, pressure canning)—see table 1 for suitable preservation methods for the olive styles included in this publication. Water-Cured Olives To prepare olives for water curing, you must first individually cut or crack each olive so that the bitter oleuropein can more easily leach out. The prepared olives are soaked in water and the water is changed daily over a week or more, depending on the olive style and the desired level of bitterness. After curing, the olives are placed in a finish brine, which is a vinegar-salt solution that adds the characteristic flavors. The advantage of this method is that the olives are ready to eat within a few weeks. These olives will still be slightly bitter because water curing removes less oleuropein than other methods. method two The bitter truth An Olive, ripe and freshly plucked off the tree, may look appealing-but don't take a bite. Olives are chock- full of a bitter compound called oleuropein. Even before they hit the shelves, olives display a range of colors. Moving from early to late right Ness, Olive shift through green, yellow- green, rows, red- Brown and purplish black colors. From tree to table To transition from tree to table, olives need to be “cured.” This process removes bitter oleuropein from their flesh. There are three main options for tasty olives:  Soak and sodium hydroxide (NaOH)  Soak in water  Ferment in salt brine These olives take weeks to cure and can still have a hint of bitterness. But the flavors don't necessarily stop after curing: olives can also be brined in various salty solutions to impart other flavors. By soaking olives and sodium hydroxide, or lye, the caustic chemical reacts with oleuropein to form compounds with a less-bitter-taste, including hydroxytyrosol. Olive-makers have a say about the color of their final product: Mixing air in during the lye treatment causes a reaction between oxygen and hydroxytryrosol that produces black and brown pigments. Add in ferrous gluconate as a color fixative, and voila! Shiny, beautiful black olives. Keeping oxygen out keeps the olives green.

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